I am not sure about the compatibility of the threads for other razors but the handle from the Empire Shaving razor will fit on the KCG head and vice versa. That's actually good since I like the handle on the Empire Shaving razor. I think the KCG handle is made in China and the head is made in Germany.
I bought this when it first came out. I've started to use it again for the last few shaves. Very nice, smooth, mild razor. Tough for me to get a really close shave with it, but I never go for BBS anyway. I'm going to use this for at least another week straight, just for kicks. I'll probably get better and better shaves, but for now I feel like some mild shaves anyway. Right now I'm using a Gillette Plat light blue. I still have 4 King C. Gillette blades left from when I bought it, so I will use one of those soon. I've read a lot in the past about whether or not the head is made by Muhle or not. I've seen convincing arguments from both sides, lol. I've never had an actual Muhle R89, nor an EJ DE89, which is the other razor people compare it to. I do have both a Parker and a Maggard that are similar, but I can attest that both are much more aggressive than the King C. Gillette. Maggard V3>Parker>>King C. Gillette for aggressiveness.
The only real problems I have with this razor are the knurling (not a fan of barber pole or smooth handles) and the rounded tip on the end. Do NOT take this into the shower to shave! Still, it does a decent enough job. This and the Gillette Heritage are the first new safety razors produced for the U.S. market in over three decades, and I hope the company produces more—perhaps even wading into the adjustable market again!
Yep, just about everyone complains about the handle. Didn't anyone at Gillette test out this razor? And what did they save like 5 cents by only knurling half the handle! That being said, I am able to grip it well enough. A better looking handle would have made this razor look so much more classy, too. Today I got a much closer shave, with a Gillette Plat on it's 7th shave. I have it loaded with a King C. Gillette blade for tomorrow morning. You really need to ride the cap to get a closer shave. It is still smooth with a slightly steeper angle, and cuts well, but just not as close. For me, the first pass WTG doesn't take off as much as I usually like, but after the XTG pass it's as good as any razor I've tried. But then again, it wasn't until the ATG pass that I realized riding the cap gets you closer with this razor. I don't want to make this a SOTD thread, so if I decide to talk more about it I will open up a different thread.
If it helps anyone I purchased the Vintage thick Bar handle from razorock and the threads matched up perfectly. Actually it made it look like a thick handled Gillette Heritage with a branded head. Like others stated a mild shave but very very smooth for my face. I tried to attach a photo but it's saying it's file is to large.
You have to scale the pic down to the forum's specs. You can do it with the pic viewer built into Windows. The app is simply called "Photos".
